Indexes of soil quality. a systematic review

Abstract

Sarmiento, E., Fandiño, S., Gómez, L. 2018. Indexes of soil quality. A systematic review. Ecosistemas 27(3):130-139. Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.1598

One of the most critical environmental problems is the degradation and loss of soil, particularly by conventional agricultural practices. These practices have led to the alteration and degradation of physical, chemical and biological soil properties, resulting in erosion,acidity, salinity, soil compaction and pollution. Thus, the concept of soil quality has been developed to be able to evaluate the status of a soil under a specific use. The objective of the present review was to infer the reasons for choosing the soil quality indexes most used. To do this, a search and analysis of original articles on the existing soil quality indexes in the SCOPUS database was carried out, using the phrase “Soil Quality Index” in the title of articles as search criteria. We found 70 articles using 32 indexes. Of these, one index, the Weighted Additive Index, is the only one clearly used in multiple investigations. Also, this index has many indicators (67) than the others, comparable only with the second most used (Unified Index). The three most popular indices have more than 20 indicators, which are physical, chemical and biological. There are 8 indicators used in the 3 most popular indexes, which should be used in a reliable soil quality index: Microbial C biomass, N potential mineralization, pH, electric conductivity, cationic exchange, porosity, density and water conductivity.